Dollar creeps higher as virus worries return

Singapore

The dollar found a footing on Wednesday as investors returned to safe-havens, unwinding some risk currency gains made on hopes the coronavirus crisis in Europe and New York was slowing.

The greenback rose on most majors besides the safe-haven Japanese yen, a day after suffering its worst drop against a basket of currencies in nearly two weeks, Reuters reported.

Safe-haven gains were slight but gathered pace in morning trade as the two-day rally in Asia’s equity markets lost steam and bonds and gold firmed.

The U.S. currency rose most against the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars, gaining about 0.5% on each to sit at $0.6142 per Aussie and $0.5951 per kiwi.

“Risk aversion and the U.S. dollar are going hand in hand,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney.

“Improvement has been based on less-bad statistics coming out of various parts of the world...but our view is that markets are going to remain choppy - we cant expect an uninterrupted flow of singularly good or singularly bad news.”

The dollar edged 0.1% lower to 108.55 yen. It rose a fraction against the British pound to $1.2321 and euro to $1.0878.